How CropBooster® 2.0 influences corn metabolism

To evaluate the biostimulant CropBooster® 2.0 in corn, Axter Agroscience has called on renowned independant research institutions such as Guelph University and McGill University. All in all, CropBooster® 2.0 has been tested in hundreds of experimental plots.
It has also been field tested in partnership with Ontario and Quebec growers. As can be seen in the table below, growers gained on average 7.1 bushels of grain corn per acre.

Axter was also eager to understand how CropBooster® 2.0 helps the plant overcome stresses like the one an herbicide application can cause. Dr Don Smith and his research team at McGill University were given the mandate to look into this issue.

While being complex, the issue is starting to yield its secrets. Dr Smith has pursued a specific lead, which is the influence of the biostimulant on concentration of various proteins found in the plant tissue. A corn plant is made of over 300 different proteins. So researchers compared metabolic processes in corn plants treated with glyphosate alone to those in plants treated with a mix of glyphosate and CropBooster® 2.0. They noted that adding the biostimulant led to an increase in the concentration of 71 proteins and a decrease for 50 others.

Interestingly, many proteins produced at a greater level are knowned to be involved in the plant’ stress response. For instance, some proteins are associated with energy use. Others are linked to structural processes. It seems that CropBooster® 2.0 molecules activated genes regulating the synthesis of these 71 proteins.

Conversely, among the 50 proteins produced at a lower level, few are involved in the plant’s development processes. Hence, plant growth seems to be maintained in spite of the herbicide-induced stress.

All this explains, however partly, why corn growers get an average 7.1 bu/acre yield increase with CropBooster® 2.0.